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Shorty the Bear
Shorty is the bear who appears in Nicktoons: Clash of the Ancients. He is the leader of the Prehistoric Alliance. Arctodus simus, also known as the giant short-faced bear, is an extinct species of bear. The genus Arctodus is known as the short-faced or bulldog bears. A. simus is the largest bear, and more generally, the largest mammalian land carnivore within the last 20,000 years. It was native to prehistoric North America from about 800 thousand years ago, and became extinct about 12,500 years ago. It was the largest terrestrial carnivore of its day. The largest mature males would have stood 1.8m (6 ft) at the shoulder (on all fours), 4m (13 ft) upright and an impressive 900kg (2000 lb). // if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = "show"; var tocHideText = "hide"; showTocToggle(); } // http:// The short-faced bears belonged to a group of bears known as the tremarctine bears or running bears, which are endemic to the New World. The earliest member of the Tremarctinae was Plionarctos, which lived in Texas during the Pliocene Epoch, (2-5 mya). This genus is considered ancestral to Arctodus, as well as to the modern spectacled bear, Tremarctos ornatus. Although the early history of Arctodus simus is poorly known, it evidently became widespread in North America by the Kansan age (about 8000 kya). http:// A. simus was native to North America, where it ranged from the north central plains of Alaska and Canada to central Mexico, and California to Virginia. It was the most common of early North American bears, being most abundant in California. http:// Analysis on Arctodus bones showed high concentrations of nitrogen-15, a stable nitrogen isotope accumulated by meat-eaters with no evidence of ingestion of vegetation. A. simus was an obligate carnivore, and as an adult would have required 16 kg (35 pounds) of flesh per day to survive. One theory of its predatory habits envisions Arctodus simus as a brutish predator that overwhelmed the large mammals of the Pleistocene with its great physical strength. Some consider this problematic, as Arctodus, though very large, was gracile in build. In order to bring down fellow megafauna, some believe this bear would have had to be a more robust creature, with a denser skeletal structure. Alternatively, the long-legged Arctodus may have run down Pleistocene herbivores such as steppe horses and saiga antelopes in a cheetah-like fashion. However, in this scenario, the bear’s sheer physical mass would be a handicap. Arctodus skeletons do not articulate in a way that would have allowed for quick turns, an ability required of any predator that survives by killing agile prey. Dr. Paul Matheus, paleontologist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, determined that Arctodus' moved in a pacing motion like a camel or horse, making it built more for endurance than for great speed. Arctodus simus, according to these arguments, was ill-equipped to be an active predator, leading some to conclude that it was a kleptoparasite, using its enormous size to intimidate smaller predators such as dire wolves, Smilodon and American lions from their kills. Though seen by some as primarily a scavenger, it's 30-45 mph speed and fearsome natural weapons could have allowed it to attack fast moving prey like horses and slow-moving animals such as the Megatherium, according to U.S. National Park Service paleontologist Greg McDonald. Despite being largely herbivorous, Megatherium might also have scavenged on carcasses, possibly as a competitor to Arctodus. Recently closer dietary research on "arctodus" as well as "ursus spelaeus" (Cave Bear) suggests that both bears are omnivores like modern bears and that "arctodus" did eat plants deponding on availability. http:// The giant short-faced bear became extinct some 12 millennia ago, perhaps partly because some of its large prey died out earlier, and partly also because of competition with the smaller, more omnivorous brown bears that entered North America from Eurasia. Since its demise coincides with the development of the Clovis technology and improved hunting techniques by humans in North America, hunting pressure may also have contributed to its extinction, both directly (human hunting) or indirectly (due to the depletion of other large mammals which it may have followed to scavenge kills or depended upon as prey). http:// *Pleistocene extinctions *Pleistocene megafauna